70K
Against The Grain Brewery & Smokehouse

4.33/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

70k is a decadent double chocolate stout. The barrel is light and dry. The beer is super sticky and fudgy, a total brownie experience.

@firesidewithphil

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4.4/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

750 ml bottle into a snifter. Had 2/22/19.

Pours near black, thick looking and opaque, with a half inch foamy head and some light foamy lacing. Aromas of bourbon, chocolate, malt, oak, tobacco, caramel, molasses, some char, some figs and prunes. Flavors of bourbon, malt, oak, chocolate, prunes, caramel, molasses, some tobacco, light figs. A little sweet. Smooth, creamy, a solid full body, well carbonated.

Terrific barrels, great aromas and flavors, gets better as you work through the bottle. Very enjoyable. Has a high price point, but certainly worth at least a one time purchase.

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3.85/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Man, remember the days AtG was a sought-after trade commodity? It was a long spell ago. Ahhh, foolish youth. 750ML bottle split with my wife.

I didn’t look, but I’ll be it’s dark. Probably black. Or dark brown. The nose spells light bourbon & chocolate, with roast the dominant factor.

70K sounds like what my girls will be paying annually for college. This beast arrives on wings of alkeehall, which I find increasingly debilitating at my rapidly advancing age. It took me a while, but I know exactly what this is: wood-infused marshmallow soaked in bourbon. Strong marshmallow. I don’t get any roast, but it’s plenty smooth & milkier than being 13 months pregnant.

If this beer were a Greek God it would be Helius. Very good brew.

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4.35/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A - Dark brown pour with a caramel creamy lacing ring. Lots of legs on the sides of the glass as it oozes down the sides.

S - Deep milk chocolate and bourbon, vanilla, oak.

T - Lots of roasted cocoa, milk chocolate, bourbon, oak, there's also a small amount dark fruit.

M - Thick and silky with light warming on the way down.

O - Pretty impressive overall.

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4.36/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

**
12/01/19

Bottle to snifter.

LOOK: jet black with a very big foamy head. Excellent retention. Big bubbles in the foam and several shades if tan / beige / light brown resulting in a creamy hot chocolate or cappuccino like head.
AROMA: bourbon, vanilla, chocolate.
TASTE: chocolate milk with a hint of bourbon. 13.0% abv is so well masked it is only somewhat apparent b/c of the bourbon flavor.

FEEL: creamy and full bodied.

**

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4.3/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

A-Pours a dark color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has very slight Bourbon and lactose hints
T-The taste follows the nose with slight Bourbon and lactose flavors
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A good Milk Stout

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4.25/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Date night at Caliente Pizza and draft house. Interestingly had the same night as Founder's CBS. Not very different in flavor. If you ate looking for a sweet imperial... Here ya go!

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4.21/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

This is a thick beer with little carbonation that pours deep black into the glass with little head. It smells like maple and tastes like bourbon and chocolate (65% cacao or so), making it a nice, roasty, sweet beer with a more complex taste than most.

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4.37/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours black with a quarter inch light brown head that left good lacing. Smells and tastes of dark chocolate, espresso, roasted malts, vanilla, bourbon, oak, licorice and a bit of dark fruits. Heavy bodied, lush and creamy mouth feel, light carbonation and just a hint of bitterness on the finish.

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4.56/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Outstanding barrel aged stout. The chocolate and espresso notes are definitely the most dominate, but there is a vanilla that comes through mid palate that almost resembles a chocolate covered marshmallow. The barrel is very well done, the bourbon notes are very pronounced but aren’t overpowering, they play really well into the chocolate, dark fruit, and roastiness. The mouthfeel is thick and coating, I love these syrupy imperial stouts. This is one of the better ones I’ve had and I would recommend searching it out.

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4.53/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Poured from fridge temp. Pours a thick and creamy black with little dark brown head. Looks insanely appealing. I get the bourbon immediately on the nose, which I love. Some nice chocolate, licorice, vanilla, and toffee. The taste is fantastic. Sweet upfront, but a bit bitter on the tail end. Getting tons of dark chocolate, coffee, licorice, roasted malts, brown sugar, vanilla, and bourbon. Also picking up some raisin. The bourbon notes definitely linger in the aftertaste. This has an incredibly robust mouthfeel - super thick and viscous. This is how a BA should be. Definitely at the top of the list for me.

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3.93/5  rDev -9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Appearance: Pours almost pitch black with a one finger tan head which fades; leggy, with some spots left behind

Smell: Milk chocolate, marshmallow and vanilla cream, enveloped in a cloak of Bourbon aromatics

Taste: Milk chocolate covered marshmallows in liquid form, with the sweetened vanilla tone building; through the middle, the Bourbon adds another dimension, cutting the sweetness ever so slightly; the blend of the chocolate confection and the Bourbon linger in the aftertaste

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with low to moderate carbonation; warmth in the gullet

Overall: A very sweet stout and, while it is well-crafted for what it is, this is clearly a dessert beer to enjoy in limited quantity - bottling this in a 750 makes no sense to me

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4.54/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

35k is one of the best milk/sweet stouts I've ever had. And this is the recipe doubled and then aged in bourbon barrels. So in the honor of winning gold medal of aged stout at GABF this week, I will be enjoying this 750 ml. bottle poured into a snifter. Excited to see what it brings. This beer pours out pitch black and forms a nice mocha colored crown that dissipates to leaving an outer ring with some misty bubbles remaining in the middle. The smell is strong with dark fruit, bourbon, oak, caramel and even vanilla. Wow. I hope this complexity carries on in to the flavor. But for now I can't stop smelling. Alright, let's just do this. Let's take a sip. The first initial sip offers the dark fruit tangling all the way through. Cherries, raisins, slight plums. Then after that, this is providing chocolate layers along with bourbon, oak and vanilla. I'm glad they doubled the recipe of 35k because even with it doubled, I feel like that bourbon is taking a lot of sweetness and chocolate away. Very good flavor nonetheless. The mouthfeel is warming from bourbon and dry from oak but I wish there was more carbonation to make it just bounce. Overall, I can definitely see how this is an award winner and I enjoyed having it. I would say I've had better for the style, but I would be forgetting that this actually is a milk/sweet stout overall and from that, I probably haven't. It's a damn good treat.

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4.49/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

From the growler via Party Town in Kentucky and enjoyed in a snifter.
This kickin' stout pours a rich obsidian with a lovely head of medium brown
foam that subsides to a thick ring, thin layer, and displays some excellent
sudsy lacing. Nose of boozy bourbon, vanilla, woodsy oak, sweet cream,
deep roasted malts, and char touched marshmallow. Flavors nail it
on the WOW scale and follow with bourbon and sweet cream that isn't
so sweet that it takes on an "off" character, showing balance against an
onslaught of roasted malts showing flavors fudge, coffee, and rich
roast and char. Oaken and vanilla notes gain strength with warmth--
outstanding! Excellent mouth feel; full body, slick, coating, warming,
meaty, beaty, big, and bouncy. Low carbonation that is just enough to
give this behemoth some lift, and a warming sweet finish.

All in all---WOW. Period.

22 dollars a growler---need to make note of this more often.

Cheers

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4.34/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

750 ml bottle, no dating on it that I noticed. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head that stuck around a little while. Not much lacing at all. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like bourbon, vanilla, roasted malt, coffee, and dark fruit. I think the taste is similar to the aroma, with bourbon, vanilla, bittersweet and milk chocolate, roasted malt, molasses, dark fruit, oak/woody and coffee flavors. Sweetness gets a little stronger as the beer warms, but isn't overpowering. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's smooth and a bit slick with a lower to moderate amount of carbonation. Easy enough to drink for being 13% ABV. I thought this was a pretty good barrel aged imperial stout, I tried this before on tap a couple years ago and it's just as good as I remember. Definitely worth picking up! $16.99 a bottle.

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4.37/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 2.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours an effervescent mahogany with a thumb of caramel head. Dissapointing head retention & lacing

S: Some Bourbon, a little ghost booze & figs, plus dark cherry

T: Barrel, but seems more like red wine, dryness, dark fruit, a touch of leathery dryness & a little dark chococlate up front. Some smokiness, , figs, leafy hops, a little red wine barrel & leathery dryness as this warms, plus a little raisin. Finishes oaky, red-winey, with little fig, black cherry & a little Bourbon on the edges

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, warming

Pretty good, but not + $1 an ounce good. Glad I got to try it

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4.18/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

A - dark brown black beer with a mocha head that leaves a nice lacing
S - big dark malts, dark and milkn chocolate, cream, v vanilla, umami, tiny bit of coconut, oak, bourbon but the barrel is very subdued
T - big dark malts, roasted malts, dark and milk chocolate, cream, milk, vanilla, slight bourbon and oak, little bit of a kahlua especial flavor with the syrupiness
M - heavy mouthfeel, alcohol covered at 13%, aftertaste is chocolate and cream
O - it's the best bba milk stout I've had, I don't think lactose and bba goes well together for some reason. Bba buffalo sweat is a good example of the sickening sweet flavor it creates. This doesn't have that though. I think the high abv helped give it a nice bite. It's still very dessert like though, almost syrupy at times, like Kahlua Especial.

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4.25/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a deep brown with a one-finger head and no lacing.

The smell is bourbon and bourbon, with a little bourbon in the background. As it warms a very nice, sweet cocoa smell comes through.

The taste follows with lots of bourbon but adds a subtle touch of dark fruit. The alcohol is well hidden for 13%. A light, sweet cocoa hits as it warms.

The mouthfeel is thinner than expected with low carbonation.

Overall this is very smooth and quite good.

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4.53/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

L: dark midnight black. Nice head that goes away quick.

S: strong bourbon right out the gate. Subtle chocolate.

T: wow. This is really good. Bourbon melts in with the beer perfect. Sweet milk stout mellows everything out. Sweet chocolate at the end. Very very good

F: nice and smooth. Lingering flavor makes you want more.

O: this is a great beer. I would love to have more of this.

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4.43/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A- Bomber into a tulip. Pours a very dark brown, near black. Rich, tan, one finger head that fades to a rim around the edge. Tight, cascading lacing.
S- Raw bourbon, super sweet milk chocolate, chocolate malts.
T- Incrdible amount of lactose and milk chocolate sweetness. Balanced nicely by the smooth bourbon. Not a lot of barrel presence in the sense of char or oak presence. Just super sweet and delicious bourbon.
M- Milk stout aspect shines through here. Silky, medium carbed. Not overly thick but definitely full and creamy.
O- Truly a dessert BBA stout. Super sweet and chock-full of chocolate without being cloying. Bourbon notes come in strong and fade effortlessly. Delicious BBA stout that I would revisit anytime.

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4.21/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thanks to Russ for sharing a growler pour of this.
A: Pours a deep dark chocolate brown with hints of dirty motor oil, chocolate milk colored foam head that quickly fades
S: Sweet roasted malt, chocolate, bourbon, hints of cinnamon, oak, vanilla
M: Medium heavy, juicy in the finish
T: Sweet, did I say sweet, chocolate, bourbon, lactose, brown sugar
O: Tasty brew if you are in a sweets mood

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4.35/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Deep black color, viscous on the pour like motor oil. The pour produced only a thin, fleeting head with minimal lacing. This is a huge beer but with great balance. Nicely mixed aromas of milk chocolate, bourbon, cocoa, and roasted malt. Same on the taste. The bourbon played really well with the sweetness of the lactose and was balanced by the chocolate. The feel was big but not overly sweet - not dry either. A bit boozy on the finish but not more than I would expect at 13%. Overall, a fantastic beer.

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3.2/5  rDev -25.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 2.5

Snifter pour. But first, let's talk about this cap... I'm pretty sure it was on there so loosely I couldve popped it off with the palm of my hand. Didn't sound and doesn't appear flat though.

Viscous engine oil look with thick, thick creamy 2 finger light tan head. The lacing is pure froth.

Smells like cheap bourbon. Oak, sugar, vanilla ice cream , brown sugar, toasted coconut. Smells absurdly sweey.

Tastes like not a whole lot of anything... this is one very, very NOT rich stout. Heavy alcohol, and a weird sweetness. There's almost zero opposing char, roast, or hop characteristics to oppose the sweet alcohol tang. Very little traditonal stout flavors assert themselves. It's like they cut grain alcohol with water and mixed in their 35k beer. The only thing that's big about this beer is the ethanol.

Mouthfeel is killer. Super creamy. The lactose did wonders for this beer.

Overall. Maybe my palate is just really, really off because I don't get it. I'm 4oz in and considering drain pouring this $17 bomber

Update. Recapped the bottle after 1/3 of the way through. Went to the cellar to find a similar abv non adjunct bb stout and cracked a ba ten fidy. It's still delicious. How 70k mustered nearly a 4.3 averge is beyond me. I sure hope bo & like goes better than this...

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3.52/5  rDev -18.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

L: pours thin and dark brown
A: smoky, molasses, slight barrel.
T: boo, just like the nose. Damn
F: thin to medium thickness, a lot of carbonation.
O: another disappointment.

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3.49/5  rDev -19.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.5

Black with a moderate tan foam head.

Smell is cola, raisin, vodka, and root beer barrel candies.

Taste is cola, smoke, charred oak, prune, vodka, and herbs. This is relatively hot. Is the vodka here on purpose? Wtf? This is the first time I've ever thought of vodka while drinking beer.

Feel is the best part about this brew--thick and luscious, velvety but dry.

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